Upwellings: Pyramid Pinnacles and Kaloko Arches/Canyons 6/25/2020

Calm ocean made us think that maybe the Pyramid Pinnacles cave might be navigable. Once on the mooring we saw a little surge but worth checking it out. The thing about that two-room cave with skylights is that if there are bubble vortices at the entrance it's a no go.

As usual I was at the end of the line with DM Mo (She was an awesome dive companion), and everyone else had gone in. But as I looked into the cavern I saw not only bubble vortices but divers getting spun. I guess it has been clear and then when everyone was inside - Bwawhahah! Well, everyone was OK, but Mo and I and one other diver decided to bail and go around the outside.

The critter theme of the day was Eels and Gold lace Nudis. But the diversity of eels was really awesome. A lot of Yellow Margin Eels, one again with a head wound, and an Undulated eel. But the prize Eel was a Dragon Moray, right under the mooring at kaloko.

Dragon Moray

Undulated

I had specifically asked Rob to find us a wire coral Gobie, so, as usual, Rob bubbled out "as you wish." I'd looked so long at wire corals last time I was here that I'd got separated from the group, which at Kaloko can be unsettling because of the maze of canyons. This time, I got the shot and tagged onto the back of the line headed off to go through the arches. (see video)

After the Eel bonanza came the Gold Lace nudi convention, well, there were two of them so maybe not a convention.

There was also a fairly common Pustulose nudi near the end of the Kaloko dive.

So Kaloko came through with a haul of critter pics, even though we looked for and did not find the Whitley's Boxfishes, of which there is a female, and word has it, a male further out. Neither was findable today. Here are the rest of the cast that did show up for us. Dragon Wrasse, Four Spot butterfly, guilded trigger, Leaf Scorpion way deep in a coral head, and an Orange band Surgeon.

Here's a close up of the Pelagic Rob Bob we found cruising at Pyramid Pinnacles. You never know what you'll see out in the blue expanse. (see video below)